Apparatus for heat sealing identification tags to garments and the like



J. A. FILSINGER ETAL 2,914,208 APPARATUS FOR HEAT SEALING IDENTIFICATIONTAGS TO GARMENTS AND THE LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 28, 1956AINVENTOR. Jzmfeson flF/Zsin er BY PAN/,0 N B aui ATTO NE Y.

Nov. 24, 1959 J. A. FILSINGER E 2,914,208

APPARATUS FOR HEAT SEALING IDENTIFICATION TAGS TO GARMENTS AND THE LIKEFiled May 28, 1956 a Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

J21 [@507 Al /35in er A TTORIVEY.

Nov. 24, 1959 J. A. FILSINGER EI'AL 2,914,208

APPARATUS FOR HEAT SEALING IDENTIF TION TAGS T0 GARMENTS AND THE LIKFiled May 28, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Unite States Patent APPARATUS FORHEAT SEALING IDENTIFICA- rIoN TAGS T GARMENTS AND THE LIKE Jamieson A.Filsing'er and Philip N. Braun, Syracuse, N.Y. said Jamieson A.Filsinger assignor to Philip N. Braun' Application May 28, 1956, SerialNo. 587,582, 4' Claims. 01. Zia-29) This invention relates to apparatusfor heat sealing identification tags to garments and the like inconnection with laundering and dry cleaning" processes.

Machines of this type are employed for affixing identi-fl portion of thetape in overlying relation to the heating iron and upon movement of thegarment platen toward the iron, the end portion of the tape is severedto form the tag, and the tagis squeezed between the heater arm and thegarment. The heat from the iron reactivates the adhesive and thesimultaneous application of pressure seals the tag to the garment. cludeprinting mechanism for printing the desired identifying indicia on thereverse side of the tagthat is, the side contactingthehea-ter iron. Amachine of this type is disclosed in its' entirety in, the copendingapplication of Philip N. Braun, Serial Number 459,294, filed sep tember30, 1954, now Pa'ten'tNo. 2,825,480, issued on March 4, 1958.

This invention has to do' particularly with the structure of the garmentplaten, and has as an object an arrangement wherein the tape severingshear'is mounted in close' proximity to the heater iron. The garmentplaten embodying a base portion and a movable garment contacting portionmounted thereon, the base and "the movable element having meanscooperable during the initial application of pressure by the platenagainst the garment and tag, while the latter is overlyingthe face ofthe-heating iron, to effect a sidewise orlateral'shifting of the platen,garment and tag, to move the tag in full registration with the face ofthe heating iron, whereby heat and pressure are applied to the tag overthe entirearea thereof.

The invention consists of the novel features and of the combinations andconstructions hereinafter set forth and claimed. H I

In describing this invention, referencelis had to the accompanyingdrawings in which like characters desig nate corresponding parts in allthe views.

In the drawingsi Figure 1 is a side elevational view of that portion ofthe machine embodying the platen, platen carrying arm and heater iron.

Figure 2 is a top plan view illustrating the anvil moved forwardlytoward the heater iron but spaced an appreciable distance therefrom.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 with the movable element of theplaten initially contacting the tag, the tag having at that instant beensevered from the tape.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, showing the position of theparts with the anvil under full pressure compressing the garment and tagagainst the heater iron.

These machines also in Figure 51 5 via; area sir 511.16 correspondingt5.

line5-5,Figure I I Figure 6 is a frontelevational view of the heatingiron, tag positioning and tag severing mechanism. 7

.The frame consistsof a U-shaped member formedof sheet metal and havingvertically extending side ,walls 10, 11, and a bottom wall 12 A shaft 13is journalled. in the side walls 10, 11, to provide a pivotal mountingfor an arm 14 provided at its outer end with laterally extendinghandleprojections 15. The back wall. 17; of the frame extends upwardly,anda heater iron 18 is secured thereto. The platen carrying arm 14,intermediate its ends, is formed with; a forwardly projecting portion 20carrying a transversely extending pin 21; which, when the arm i s movedtoward the heaterarm 18,;passes over the hookedend nof a link 23 pivotedat 24 to a,

vertically disposed lever.-25 A plate 26 is secured tothe back. wall 17of the frarne, and carries a bracket127 to which the upperendflof thelever 25 is pivotally mounted, as by pin 28. The link 23 is supported,-inter-, mediate its ends-on a pin- 2 9 mounted in ,the side walls,

10, 11, and 111511111; is for med with a downwardly curved cam surface30. Thelink' is urged downwardly on the pin 29 by a tension spring 32,see Figure 1. When the-- arm 14 has been moved about its pivot 13manually until the platen-is in the'position shown in Figure 2 thepin 21is moved behind the hooked end 22 of link 23. There upon, the lever 25is moved in a counter-clockwise di rection, Figure 1, about itsilp'ivot28 by power means;

such asa'fiuid actuated cylinderandpiston structure,- not shown, andthrough theinstrumentality of. the link .23 the platen, with the garmentdraped thereovergis drawn tightly against the identification tag; andthe latter is pressed against the heating iron, whereby heat and pres.-;

tag to the, garment.

sure are applied to thetag to effect the sealing of the Theidentification tags are formed from,a strip or. tape of suitablematerial, theface side confronting the.;.gar-.; ment platen,being'coated-with a suitable thermoplastic; adhesive. Thistape isindicated at 3,5. Thesupplygofl tapebeing usuallyinroll form ;and themachine proper, having a tape feedingmechanism, operable togadvance, thet he ta igrmii a Ldi a each t the platen:

is moved into engagemenpwiththe heating,, iron. A

form f. 31 eed i i ust ated; e.li aun iapp i n,. 459,294, previouslymentioned. A guide structure 33 is;

provided to guide t he tape;;asit, is advaneed from the.

roll, and to position. theendgportionof the jtape in over-. lyingrelation ;,to, the, face of the heating? iron. 18, see. Figures land 6.h A stationaryshear blade ,37 is fixedlto'the left hanld end;oftheheaterjhonllii and a movable; shear blade 38 is mounted forcooperationwith the sta-... tionary blade 37 The blade38 ismounted on, apivot: 40 and is maintained in tight shearingrelation" tothe" fixedblade 37. byla leaf spring f l ca frlied, by the depending portion 42ofthe f xed blade, see Figured .5.

The rn'ovable blade'38' has a rearwardllextending tion pivotallyattached to the uppereendgof alverticalljy disposed link 43, see Figurel. The lowerQend'of-Fthe nlafi s termed w t a ap r ure 4.5;elongatediin. a direction lengthwise of the link, to receive a pin 46carried on an arm 47 attached to the platen carrying arm 14. Thearrangement is such that when the face of the platen initially contactsthe tag 36, the movable shear severs the end portion 36 to form the tag.

The garment supporting platen consists of a base 5'0 detachably securedto the arm 14, as by screws 51. The forward edge of the base 50 isformed with a relatively deep, rectangular shaped, slot 52 in whichthere is slidably mounted a garment supporting or contacting element.The inner portion 54 of this movable element is slidably mounted in slot52 in the base 50. .A bar 56 Pai ented Nov. 24, 1959:

is mounted intermediate the inner end of the portion 54 and the bottomof the slot 52. A pin 57 is secured to the bar 56, intermediate the endsthereof, and is slidably mounted in a bore 5 8 formed in the base member50. The ..bar 56 is yieldingly-urged outwardly against the portion 54 byhelical compression springs 59. Outward movement of the portion 54 islimited by a pin 60 extending through the slotted portion of the baseand through an aperture 61 which is elongated in a diagonal direction,the slot 61 and pin 60 serving to cam the movable element to the left byaction of springs 59, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

The outer enlarged portion 64 of the movable element is also providedwith a rectangular shaped slot extending lengthwise of the element, andin which is positioned a channel member '66. A pad 67 of resilientmaterial, such as rubber, is mounted in the channelmember 66, and isretained against the bottomwall 68, thereof, by a pin 69' which extendsthrough the side walls of the channel member and the rubber pad, andalso through the portion 64. The opposite end of thepadisretained by a.pin 7 0 which extends through the side Walls of the channel member, butdoes notextend through the side walls of the outer portion 64 of themovable member. An aperture is provided extending inwardly from thebottom wall of theslot in the portion 64, and a helical compressionspring 71 is positioned in this bore and acts against the bottom wall 68of the channel member. The spring 71 is positioned toward the pin 70whereby the channel member is moved about its pivotal mounting 69, thismovement being limited by a plate 74 having a hooked end portion 75engaging the bottom Wall 68 of the channel member, the plate 74 beingsecured to the portion 54 of the movable member as by screws 76.

With this arrangement, the movable member is normally positionedoutwardly and shifted to the left, Figures 2 and 3, of the base 50.Also, the pad 67 is in canted position. The garment is draped over thepad 67, and the arm 14 is moved toward the heater iron during whichmovement the end portion 36 of the tape is advanced to overlyingrelation with the heater iron 18. As the forward corner of the cantedpad 67'engages the end portion 36 of the tape, as shown in Figure 3, theshear blade 38 is actuated to sever the end portion from the tape toform the tag. This engagement of the tag prevents it from falling ormoving out of place. Further movement of the platen toward the heatingiron, under the influence of the power actuator referred to, elfectsmovement of the pad 67 about the pivot 69 to bring the pad and channelmember in parallel relation with the face surface of the iron 18 andthereupon, the movable element is moved inwardly of the base againstcompression springs 59 and during this inward movement, the mov: ableelement and the pad carried thereby are shifted laterally to the right,as shown in Figure 4, and this movement effects similar shifting of thesevered tag,

whereby the entire area of the reverse side of the tag is brought inregistering contact with the face of the heater iron 18 and accordingly,heat and pressure are applied over the entire area of the tag during thesealing operation. This results in the tag being more uniformly aflixedto the garment.

What we claim is: I

1. Apparatus for heat sealing thermoplastic coated identification tagsto garments comprising a frame, a heater iron mounted in the frame andhaving a heating surface, means for positioning the free end portion ofa tape from which the tags are formed in overlying relation to theheating surface of said iron, a garment platen, means operable to effectrelative movement between said iron and platen to effect compression ofa garment against the end portion of the tape and to press the latteragainst said heater iron, a shear mounted in juxtaposition to said ironand being operable upon such relative movement between the platen andiron to sever said end portion of the tape to provide the identificationtag, said platen comprising a base, a garment engaging meritber mountedon said base for movement relative thereto and projecting therefromtoward said heater iron, and means responsive 'to the exertion ofpressure against said severed tag for shifting said member and thesevered tag laterally across the surface of the heater iron in adirection away from said shear.

2. Apparatus as. defined in claim 1 and including means for yieldinglyopposing such shifting movement of said garment engaging member.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim '1 wherein said base and said movablemember have coacting means for guiding the shifting of said shiftablemember under pressure between the platen and said heater iron.

4. Apparatus for heat sealing thermoplastic coated identification tagsto garments comprising a frame, a heater iron mounted in the frame andhaving a heating surface, means for positioning the free end portion ofa tape from which the tags are formed in overlying relation to theheating surface of said iron, a garment platen, means operable to efiectrelative movement between said iron and platen to elfect compression ofa garment against the end portion of the tape and to press the latteragainst said heater iron, a shear mounted in juxtaposition to said ironand being operable upon such relative movement between the platenandiron to sever said end portion of the tape to provide the identificationtag, said platen comprising a base, a pad mounted on the base andextending in angular relation to the heating surface of said iron tocause the garment carried by said platen to engage the end of the tagremote from said shear, and

said pad being movable on said base in parallel relation to the heatingsurface of'said iron upon the exertion of pressure on said tag to shiftsaid tag laterally along said iron. I

References Cited in the file'of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

